


Pack your dolls and a sweater

by Lostinthemuggleworld (centrumpermanebit)



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25951510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/centrumpermanebit/pseuds/Lostinthemuggleworld
Summary: Sometimes Cat calls Jade in the middle of the night to come and pick her up. Jade always does and they never talk about it again.
Relationships: Cat Valentine & Jade West, Cat Valentine/Jade West
Comments: 9
Kudos: 155





	Pack your dolls and a sweater

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting drafted for almost 5 years for no real reason. Not planning to continue it at this point but may in the future.

A happy little tune sounded, echoing through the room and destroying the silence that had settled over it that late at night. The tune blared on, some pop singer wailing on about sunshine, but after a long excruciating minute it stopped. It would have been a relief if it hadn’t started back up again not a moment later.

Jade growled to herself, rolling over and flinging an arm out towards her bedside table to reach for her phone and stop the noise. 

“What?” She all but groaned into the phone as she held it to her ear, only holding back from a less welcoming greeting because she knew exactly who would be on the other end of the line given the ridiculous ringtone. 

“Hii.” The tone was joyful, not dissimilar to a greeting the owner would deliver in the school hallway. But it was the middle of the night and they've known each other for long enough that Jade could hear right through the fake bubbliness. 

“Cat, what is it?” She asked, her words perhaps harsher than necessary but her tone lacking it's usual bite.

“My brother…”

“Where are your parents?”

“My dad is with him now but…”

There was a pause and then a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle and Jade was up and out of her bed, searching for her shoes before she even needed to hear anything more. 

“I'm coming to get you, okay? Just give me five minutes.” 

“Jade,” she replied, and there seems to be a moment of indecision as she paused before continuing. “Are you sure? You don't have to.”

Jade was already stomping her feet into her docs, tugging on a leather jacket over her pyjamas before she responded. “I'm sure. I'll be out front in five minutes.”

She grabbed her keys and then sneaked out onto the landing, walking as quietly as her shoes would allow and praying that her parents were sleeping soundly. She started to relax once she reached the bottom few stairs and began rushing again, out the back door so as to avoid the screeching creak on the front one that she was almost certain her parents somehow engineered to ruin her plans. 

True to her word, she pulled up outside of Cat's house in almost exactly five minutes, sending a text to let her know she had arrived. While she waited, she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and tried not to worry about her parents checking her room, realising she's not there and doing something characteristically ridiculous like calling her ex-boyfriend, or the cops. She doubts they'll check, especially not since she plans to be back before the morning but it's a niggling thought and there isn't much else to think about while she's lurking in front of the Valentines’ house in the middle of the night.

She was about to call Cat and ask her where she was, having received no reply to her text, when she was saved from doing so by the appearance of a small figure clad in pink emerging from around the right side of the house. She's hardly wearing anything, just a tiny pink pyjama set that she suspects was purchased from the kid's clothing section. It's LA so it's not freezing, even this late at night, but it is cool and Jade found herself shedding the jacket she'd pulled on only minutes before and handing it wordlessly to Cat as she clambered into the passenger seat. 

Cat put on the jacket without hesitation and then fastened her seatbelt, putting her feet up on the seat and hugging her knees to her chest. She looked at Jade with wide, almost fearful eyes like she was worried she'll be asked something she doesn't want to answer. 

Jade just offered a tiny smile in response and started the engine, pulling away from the kerb and driving slowly down the sleeping street. The radio came to life when she started the engine and, as neither of them reached for the dials, it started to play some soft piano number that was either one song stretching on endlessly or a series of near-identical tracks, each indistinguishable from next.

Once she got to the motorway, she gunned the engine and didn't even bother to keep an eye on the speedometer as they fly down the road. The lights blur around them and Jade's pretty sure this is the closest thing there is to actually being able to fly. The dark and the speed and the adrenaline rushing through her almost make her forget where she is and why it is she's doing this. 

Not that she really knows the answer to that, anyway. She doesn’t know why she’s doing this. She doesn’t know why she immediately offered to get out of bed in the middle of the night to drive around, not when she has a test in the morning. 

And then she glances at the girl in the passenger seat. She’s relaxed a little into her seat and her window is rolled all the way down so that the night air is whipping her hair around her face. Her eyes are squeezed shut but Jade can tell that she’s nowhere near as upset as she was when she first got in the car. The expression on her face is serene, peaceful instead of crumpled into a frown as it had been before. 

It's different to see Cat like this and Jade tries to take in every detail of the moment. She remembers the first time that they did this and how strange it had been for there to be no giggling or joking or excited stories exploding from the other girl like there usually would be. Jade had wanted to fill the silence but words had failed her and she'd convinced herself that the entire thing had been a complete failure until she dropped the other girl back home and she got a small ‘thank you’ and a tight hug before she disappeared back into the house. 

By now, they had a routine. Cat would call and Jade would come running and then they never spoke of it to anyone else or even each other. 

Tonight, she drove a little farther than they usually did and didn't stop until she could see the ocean. 

“Come on,” she said quietly to Cat when she'd parked the car, opening her door and stepping out, breathing in deeply and tasting the salt in the air. 

“What are we doing here?” Cat asked, holding Jade's jacket tighter around her as a cold gust of sea breeze drifted up from the water.

Jade didn't answer, she just moved to climb onto the hood of the car and motioned for the other girl to join her. 

After a moment of hesitation, Cat did so and settled close to Jade, leaning into her side heavily and resting her head on her shoulder. 

“This is nice,” Cat said quietly. “I love the ocean.” 

“I hate the ocean,” Jade admitted. 

Cat laughed softly and she was pressed so close that Jade could feel the warmth of her breath as she exhaled. 

“I don't want to go back, Jade.” Cat’s voice was quiet, a note of despair seeping into her tone. 

“Then you won't go back.”

“You can't promise me that.”

Jade sighed and wrapped her arm around Cat's shoulders. “Maybe not but we can pretend, can't we?” 

“Yeah. That'd be nice.” 

As they sat there huddled together listening to the sound of waves crashing against the shore, Jade thought about her own words. At the time she hadn't been sure why she'd said anything about them pretending but then again, all of this had a dream-like quality to it. None of this would be here in the morning, they'd be at school bright and early with no sign that they'd spent half the night together at the beach. 

Maybe one day they would talk about it but maybe they wouldn’t. Either way, Jade was grateful for these quiet moments and the sense of peace that filled her as the first signs of sunrise streaked their way across the sky. 

Her heart ached with a feeling she couldn’t name but she pushed it aside, trying to stay right there in the moment with Cat until they absolutely have to get back in the car and speed back home before anyone notices them missing.


End file.
